Language And Cultural Background Influence on Writing Style in Kaine Agary’s YellowYellow and Audee T. Giwa’s I’d Rather Die!: Literary and Educational Perspectives

Abstract

This study examined the influence of language and cultural background on the writing styles of
Kaine Agary's Yellow-Yellow and Audee T. Giwa's I'd Rather Die! from literary and educational
perspectives. Adopting a qualitative descriptive and comparative research design, the study
employed textual analysis to examine linguistic and stylistic features, cultural representations,
indigenous expressions, and narrative techniques in the selected novels. The findings revealed that
both authors' linguistic choices are strongly influenced by their socio-cultural environments,
reflected through the use of Nigerian English, indigenous lexical items, code-switching, proverbs,
and culturally embedded expressions. While Agary foregrounds the Niger Delta's environmental
and cultural realities, Giwa portrays Northern Nigerian traditions, religious values, and social
norms. The study concludes that language and culture significantly shape literary style and
enhance authenticity, characterization, and thematic development. It further highlights the
pedagogical value of the novels for teaching English language and Literature-in-English by
promoting cultural awareness, stylistic competence, critical thinking, and appreciation of
Nigeria's multilingual literary heritage.